Evidence of human settlement in Jordan dates back to the Paleolithic period (500000 - 17000 BCE). While there is no architectural evidence from this era, archaeologists have found tools, such as flint and basalt hand-axes, knives and scraping implements.
In the Neolithic period (8500-4500 BCE), three major shifts occurred. First, people became sedentary living in small villages and concurrently, new food sources were discovered and domesticated, such as cereal grains, peas and lentils, as well as goats. The population increased reaching tens of thousands of people.
Second, the shift in settlement patterns was catalyzed by a marked change in the weather, particularly affecting the eastern desert, which grew warmer and drier, eventually becoming entirely uninhabitable for most of year. This watershed climate change is believed to have occurred between 6500 and 5500 BCE.
Third, between 5500 - 4500 BCE pottery from clay, rather than plaster, began to be produced. Pottery-making technologies were likely introduced to the area by craftsmen from Mesopotamia.
The largest Neolithic site is at Ein Ghazal in Amman. There are many buildings, divided into three distinct districts. Houses were rectangular with several rooms, and some of them had plastered floors. Archaeologists have unearthed skulls covered with plaster and with bitumen in the eye sockets at sites throughout Jordan, Palestine and Syria. A statue was also discovered as Ein Ghazal that is thought to be 8,000 years old. Just over one meter high, it depicts a woman with huge eyes, skinny arms, knobby knees and a detailed rendering of her toes.
It was during the Chalcolithic period (4500-3200 BCE) that copper was first smelted and used to make axes, arrowheads and hooks. The cultivation of barley, dates, olives and lentils, and the domestication of sheep and goats predominated over hunting. In the desert, the lifestyle was probably very similar to that of modern Bedouins.
Tuleitat Ghassul is a large Chalcolithic era village located in the Jordan Valley. Houses were made of sun-dried mud bricks and roofs of wood, reeds and mud. Some were based on stone foundations, and many planned around large courtyards. The walls are often painted with bright images of masked men, stars and geometric motifs, that were perhaps connected to religious beliefs.[1]
During the Early Bronze Age (3200-1950 BCE), many villages were built that included defensive fortifications, most likely to protect against marauding nomadic tribes. Simple water infratructures were also constructed.
At Bab al-Dhra in Wadi ‘Araba, archaeologists discovered over 20,000 shaft tombs with multiple chambers as well as houses of mud-brick containing human bones, pots, jewelry and weapons. Hundreds of dolmens scattered throughout the mountains have been dated to the late Chalcolithic and Early Bronze ages.
While in Egypt and Mesopotamia, writing developed before 3000 BCE, writing was not really used in Jordan, Palestine and Syria until some thousand years later, even though archeological evidence indicates that Jordan was in fact trading with Egypt and Mesopotamia.
Between 2300 - 1950 BCE, many of the large, fortified hilltop towns were abandoned in favor of either small, unfortified villages or a pastoral lifestyle. There is no consensus on what caused this shift, though it is thought to be combination of climactic and political changes that brought an end to the city-state network.
During the Middle Bronze Age (1950-1550 BCE), migration patterns in the Middle East increased. Trading continued to develop between Egypt, Syria, Arabia, Palestine and Jordan, resulting in the spread of civilization and technology. Bronze forged out of copper and tin resulted in the production of more durable axes, knives and other tools and weapons. Large and distinct communities seem to have arisen in northern and central Jordan, while the south was populated by a nomadic, Bedouin-type of people known as the Shasu.
New fortifications appeared at sites like Amman's Citadel, Irbid, and Tabaqat Fahl (or Pella). Towns were surrounded by ramparts made of earth embankments and the slopes were covered in hard plaster, making it slippery and difficult to climb. Pella was enclosed by massive walls and watch towers.
Archaeologists usually date the end of the Middle Bronze Age to about 1550 BCE, when the Hyksos were driven out of Egypt during the 17th and 18th Dynasties. A number of Middle Bronze Age towns in Palestine and Jordan were destroyed during this time.
Borders
Approximate image showing the land exchanged between Jordan and Saudi Arabia.
When King Abdullah I was first installed, the country now known as Jordan didn't look the way it now does. Jordan first took Aqaba from al-Hijaz, then expanded its boundary exchange with Saudi Arabia to give up a considerable area of desert and get more closer to Aqaba.
British Mandate and independence
At the end of World War I, the territory now comprising Israel, Jordan, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and Jerusalem was awarded to the United Kingdom by the League of Nations as the mandate called "Palestine Trans-Jordan." In 1922, the British, with the League's approval under the terms of the Mandate, partitioned Palestine at the Jordan River and established the semi-autonomous Emirate of Trans-Jordan in those territories to the east. The British installed the Hashemite Prince Abdullah I while continuing the administration of separate Palestine and Trans-Jordan under a common British High Commissioner. The mandate over Trans-Jordan ended on May 22, 1946; on May 25, the country became the independent Hashemite Kingdom of Trans-Jordan. It ended its special defense treaty relationship with the United Kingdom in 1957.
Trans-Jordan was one of the Arab states opposed to the second partition of Palestine and creation of Israel in May 1948. It participated in the war between the Arab states and the newly founded State of Israel. The Armistice Agreements of April 3, 1949 left Jordan in control of the West Bank and provided that the armistice demarcation lines were without prejudice to future territorial settlements or boundary lines.
In March of 1949, Trans-Jordan became Jordan, and annexed the West Bank. Only two countries, however recognized this annexation: Britain and Pakistan. It is unknown why Pakistan recognized this annexation.
In 1950, the country was renamed "the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan" to include those portions of Palestine annexed by King Abdullah. While recognizing Jordanian administration over the West Bank[citation needed], the United States, other Western powers and the United Nations maintained the position that ultimate sovereignty was subject to future agreement.
In February 1958, following announcement of the merger of Syria and Egypt into the United Arab Republic, Iraq and Jordan announced the Arab Federation of Iraq and Jordan, also known as the Arab Union. The Union was dissolved in August 1958.
Jordan signed a mutual defense pact in May 1967 with Egypt, and it participated in the June 1967 war between Israel and the Arab states of Syria, Egypt, and Iraq. During the war, Israel gained control of the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
The 1967 war led to a dramatic increase in the number of Palestinians living in Jordan. Its Palestinian refugee population — 700,000 in 1966 — grew by another 300,000 from the West Bank. The period following the 1967 war saw an upsurge in the power and importance of Palestinian militants (fedayeen) in Jordan. The heavily armed fedayeen constituted a growing threat to the sovereignty and security of the Hashemite state, and open fighting erupted in June 1970.
Other Arab governments attempted to work out a peaceful solution, but by September, continuing fedayeen actions in Jordan — including the destruction of three international airliners hijacked and held in the desert east of Amman — prompted the government to take action to regain control over its territory and population. In the ensuing heavy fighting, a Syrian tank force took up positions in northern Jordan to support the fedayeen but was forced to retreat. By September 22, Arab foreign ministers meeting at Cairo had arranged a cease-fire beginning the following day. Sporadic violence continued, however, until Jordanian forces won a decisive victory over the fedayeen in July 1971, expelling them from the country.
Post-1970
No fighting occurred along the 1967 Jordan River cease-fire line during the October 1973 Arab-Israeli war, but Jordan sent a brigade to Syria to fight Israeli units on Syrian territory.
In 1988, Jordan renounced all claims to the West Bank but retained an administrative role pending a final settlement, and its 1994 treaty with Israel allowed for a continuing Jordanian role in Muslim holy places in Jerusalem.
Jordan did not participate in the Gulf War of 1990–1991. The war led to a repeal of U.S. aid to Jordan due to King Hussein’s support of Saddam Hussein.
In 1991, Jordan agreed, along with Syria, Lebanon, and Palestinian representatives, to participate in direct peace negotiations with Israel sponsored by the U.S. and Russia. It negotiated an end to hostilities with Israel and signed a declaration to that effect on July 25, 1994. As a result, an Israeli-Jordanian peace treaty was concluded on October 26, 1994.
Following the outbreak of Israeli-Palestinian fighting in September 2000, the Jordanian government offered its help to both parties. Jordan has since sought to remain at peace with all of its neighbours.
Modern developments
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In the late 1990s, Jordan's unemployment rate was almost 25%, while nearly 50% of those who were employed were on the government payroll.
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References
Harding, G. Lankester. 1959. The Antiquities of Jordan. Lutterworth Press, London. 2nd impression, 1960.
Jordan
